Electric railway



(No Model.) v

- H. R. M'AGLEAN 8v G. A. KORNETZKB.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.l Y

Patented May 7, 1895'.

:EE:EEE i UNITED STATES PATENT ertoe.

HENRY RUTenRs MACLEAN AND GUs'rAv ADoLF KORNETZKR, or sonnNEc- TADY, Nnw YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION formngpart of Letters Patent N o. 538,76dated May 7, 1895.

Application iiledAugust 3, 1894. Serial No. 519.335. (No model.) i

To all whom, `it may concern.-

Beit known that we, HENRY RUTGERs MAC- LEAN and GUsTAv ADOLF KORNETZKE, citizens of the United States, residing at Schellectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Electric Railways, of which the following' is a full, clear, and exact description.

and has special reference to theconduit sys- -tem of railways. in which the electric conductor is located -in a trough formed in or adjacent to one of the rails upon which the Vehicles travel.

Among the objects of the invention may be mentioned efliciency in operation and simple and economical construction.

The invention consists of the apparatus and zo combinations thereof, hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure` l represents a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle and the road-bed, with parts broken z5 away to clearly illustrate our invention. Fig.

2 is a ceutralsection of the car-wheel used by us. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the track or conduit, showing a portion of the wheel of the car.

Referring to the drawings vby letter, a, a', respectively represent twoparts ofwhich one of the rails upon which the vehicles travel is formed. These parts are so formed that when together there is a longitudinal space or conduit', a2, between them, and they are held together by suitable bolts, '0.3, placed at intervals throughout the length of the track. Within the conduit and upon the bottom thereof, is located. a tinted or serpentine rib- 40 bon spring, b, which will be ypractically continuous throughout the system. Upon this spring rests freely a holder, c, of insulating material having the general shape of a trough and provided with flanges c', Vwhich are t5 adapted to impinge against shoulders a4 formed in the conduit to limit the upward movement of the holder caused by the spring.

In the trough or groove of the holder is placed a copper conductor, d, which conveys the curgov rent from the generating station to the vehicles running upon the track. The upper sur- This invention relates to electric railways, I

face of this conductor is located sufficiently below the upper surface ot' the rail to prevent contact with it by wagons, persons or animals moving upon the street.

One of the Wheels of the vehicles will be provided with contact devices which will now be described. Such a wheel is represented by E, and it consists of a main portion e, upon lwhich the ordinary tread, eis formed; also a 6o flange of peculiar construction. Vhen the vehicle is running properly upon the tracks the tread e of the wheel E runs upon the upper surface of the part ct of the rail, hereinbefore described, while the flange projects intothe conduit a2 formed in the rail. Against the inner face of the wheel are placed two disks, one f, of copper and the otherg, of steel or other strong material. The copper disk is confined between the wheel and the 7o steeldisk, but it is of greater external diameter, so that it will project slightly beyond the steel disk all around the wheel. Both disks extend beyond the body of the wheel to form its flange and this tiange extendsinto the conduit a iu the manner before referred to. The copper disk is thoroughly insulated from the wheel and fromy the steel disk by layers of insulating material, such as mica, placed on each side of it, and the' middle 8o portion of the copper disk is open to form a concentric chamber in which is located the sott rubber disk h. This rubber disk bears at its inner periphery against the hub or central portion of the wheel, and at its outer periphery itis in contact with the inner periphery of the copper disk. These disks are held in place by bolts t, which pass through enlarged openings in the copper disk, permitting the latter to assume a slightly eccentric position. The 9opressure `placed upon the disks by the bolts 't' is such as to permit the copper disk to slide in a direction at right angles to the axis whenever heavy pressure is brought to bear against its periphery. The copper disk is in electrical connection by the wire j with a collar j on the axle and from the latter the current is taken by means of the brush l7'2 to` the motorpropelling the car. When in operative condition,the flange of the wheel, as before stated, loo passes into the slot of the conduit a2 to such an extent that the copper disk f rests upon and slightly presses against the conductor (l. The current is therefore taken from the conductor by the disk and thence through the connection j, j and 3'2 to the motor. The method of mounting the conductor in the conduit permits of a gentle yielding pressure between the diskfand the conductor which insures a good contact without injury to the parts. The conductoris forced slightly downward as the car passes along and partakes of a gentle wave-like motion.

In case the car should become derailed, the full weight of the vehicle, which would then be brought upon the [lange of the wheel, would cause the copper disk to slide upward and permit the steel disk g, and stronger portions of the fiange to receive the weight and thus protect the copper disk from injury. As the wheel rolls upon the hard surface of the ground the copper disk will. continually change its position, and in doing so will compress the rubber disk h. When thev car is again placed upon the rails, the rubber disk will expand evenly and throw the copper disk into its proper concentric position.

In Fig. l we have illustrated an apparatus for clearing the conduit of any foreign matter which may have fallen into it. A forked arm, m, is pivoted upon the axle upon the opposite sidesof the wheel, extends forward of the wheel, and is formed with a shovel or scoop point m', which, when the car is in motion projects into the slot and runs in close proximity to the surface of the conductor. The point is provided with two rollers, m2, and m3, respectively, which run upon the surface of the conductor and upon the surface of the rail to maintain the point at a fixed distance from the conductor at all times. o is an electro-magnet of the solenoid type pivoted t0 the frame of the car and having its core, o' attached to a rod which is pivotally connected with the arm m. This solenoid derives its current from the main circuit, as illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and when the car is moving the attraction of the magnet for its core thrusts the point of the arm m into the conduit, thus clearing it as the car moves along. When the car stops the spring 19, lifts the arm from the conduit, and in case the car becomes derailed the severing of the circuit which then takes place de-energzcs the magnet and allows the spring to lift the arm and prevents its injury. The arm will also carry immediately behind its point a brush which will remove particles left by the point of the arm, and in order to drain the conduit of water it will have openings iudicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, which will either connect with a sewer or permit the water to flow into the earth.

We claim as our invention- 1. In an electric railway, a conduit formed in or adjacent to a rail upon which the vehicles travel and containing an electric conduc tor, in combination with avehicle wheel provided with a concentric insulated spring mounted metallic disk projecting into the conduit and making electric connection with the conductor therein, substantially as described.

2. In an electric railway, a conduit formed in or adjacent to a rail upon which the vehicles travel and containing an electric conductor, in combination with a vehicle wheel car rying a concentric metallic insulated disk, the middle portion of the disk having a circular opening, and a second disk of elastic material located in the opening of the metallic disk, the said metallic disk projecting beyond the edges of the wheel and the elastic disk having the tendency to maintain it in that position, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an electric railway, a conduit containing an electric conductor, resting upon a longitudinal serpentine spring, for the purpose set forth.

4. In an electric railway aconduit containing a trough in which is fixed an electric conductor, said trough being yieldingly supported upon a longitudinal serpentine spring.

5. In an electric railway, the combination of a conduit, a conduit cleaning device capable of moving into andout of the conduit, and an electro magnet controlling the position of the said cleaning device.

In testimony whereof we subscribe our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY RUTGERS MACLEAN. GUSTAV ADOLF KORNETZKE.

Witnesses:

GEO. E. TABoR, Guo. C. La BOURGEOIS. 

